In a typical wire-through-conduit pulling operation, one electrician feeds insulated electrical wires into a first end of an installed conduit, while another electrician pulls on the same sires from the second end of the same conduit using pulling means, for example a rope, dragline or snaking device which is attached to the leading ends of the electrical wires being pulled through the conduit. In order to facilitate the pulling of the electrical wiring through the conduit, conventional procedure involves applying a generous amount of electrical wire-pulling lubricant onto the wiring as it is being pulled into the first end of the conduit by the pulling means. Thus, one electrician is applying lubricant and pushing the wire into a first end of the conduit while the other person is pulling on the line or snaking device at the second end. This existing, well-known, conventional technique has severe disadvantages in that the lubricant is scraped off from the insulated wires as they are being pulled through a long conduit or around bends in the conduit. Consequently, frictional forces can increase to undesirably high levels or even to the point where the wires become stuck in the conduit. Also, the cumulative frictional forces produce heat which dries up the electrical wire lubricant and accordingly, reduces its intended lubricity. In addition, in the attempt to apply plenty of lubricant for a long pull, the installer is applying gobs of the lubricant onto the entering wires often causing a mess both on the installer's clothes and hands and on the floor and walls nearby. Since the installer is normally attempting to push the entering wires to help their travel through the conduit, the application of the lubricant to the wires makes handling of the electrical wires difficult and extremely messy. Lubricant makes the installer's hands slide awkwardly.
The conventional handling of electrical lubricant is so messy, and awkward that installers become inclined sometimes to omit use of the lubricant for "short length" pulling operations. Lack of lubricant subjects electrical insulation on the pulled wires to detrimental or damaging abrasion.
Often, a mechanical pulling device is applied to the end of the snake or line being used to pull the electrical wires through the installed conduit. When the wires become stuck the resulting tension forces can become so great that the fastener on the inner end of the snake or line becomes detached from the stuck wires. The taut pulling line or snake then snaps out of the conduit at high velocity with explosive-like effect. Serious injuries to electricians have occassionally occurred when a mechanically-driven pulling line under large tension force suddenly detached from stuck wires inside of a conduit. Also, large friction forces around bends inside the conduit can damage or rupture the insulation covering on the electrical wires being pulled through the conduit, causing an unknown hazardous electrical defect to be created.
In summary, the conventional wire-through-conduit pulling technique is sometimes ineffective, always awkward, often messy, and sometimes causes unseen defects by abrasion or rupture of insulation coatings and has been known to cause serious injuries when mechanical pulling devices are opposed by stuck wires.